Slovenian banks' Jan-Aug net profit up 17 pct, bad loans flat

LJUBLJANA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Slovenian banks’ net profit rose 17 percent in the first eight months of 2019 to 368.3 million euros ($422.22 million), the Bank of Slovenia said on Tuesday.

It said the amount of non-performing loans remained almost unchanged in August compared to the previous month at 1.96 billion euros or 4.6 percent of all loans.

“Net interest income and net non-interest income rose year-on-year while banks even managed to reduce operating costs somewhat,” the central bank said in a report.

It said balance sheet assets increased by 3.3 percent year-on-year while loans to the non-banking sector were up by 6.7 percent.

Slovenia narrowly avoided an international bailout for its banks in 2013. Some of the biggest banks are still state-owned and the government controls about 40 percent of the banking sector with its largest bank, Nova Ljubljanska Banka, due to be sold next month.